


Abandoned

by Merixcil



Series: Whumptober 2019 [26]
Category: Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
Genre: Gen, Peril
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:41:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26360581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merixcil/pseuds/Merixcil
Summary: Holly's caught short on a mission far from home
Series: Whumptober 2019 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1838356
Kudos: 1





	Abandoned

The light from her comm unit flickers and splutters and, like a fool, Holly doesn’t think to question it until the thing has gone totally dark. She pauses, not an easy thing with the second rate wings she’s been kitted out with tonight, and raps sharply on the screen on her wrist as if that’s going to do her any good. 

She can practically hear Foaly whinnying in alarm and telling her that his machines are like shoals of fish. Easily startled and never to have their glass unceremoniously tapped on. Holly swears and tries to patch into the old radio frequencies that are supposedly still accessible on all LEP tech, but of course no one’s listening and she’s left blathering to herself in the dark. 

She’s in a former mine shaft, approximately fifty miles outside Tara. Root had handed her this case with a declaration loud enough for the entire department to hear that if she handled this right, she could be looking at a transfer. He had recommended that she put together some back up for the mission though, and no one had wanted to work with her. 

They must have heard him saying they could be rid of her if only she pulled this off. They don’t want to keep her, but their desire to see her fail is so bloody strong that they’d let her flounder and fail at her one chance to get away from it all. 

Not that Holly wants to move, but she hates failing when it would be so easy to win. It’s not that hard, she just needs to know if there are trolls hiding out in this tunnel and take appropriate action if there are, then she can go, all questions safely answered. There’s a fantastic rejuvenation point just above the surface here, where the river curves just so and the oak tree is ancient and beautiful. That’s the reason the mining efforts failed here - the river. The ground is too damp to hold itself up, collapsed in on itself and killed fifteen humans. Nasty business. 

If there are no trolls, the Tara City Council will be able to string up an easy access elevator through here, allowing their citizens nigh on endless access to all the magic they could ever need. On full moon nights, this will be the most happening place in all of fairydom. If not, then she has some culling to do.

The only reason they didn’t send any of their own officers is that trolls are so ridiculously dangerous that they didn’t want to risk losing a body. Holly’s not stupid, just incredibly pig headed. 

And here she is, alone under ground. Same as ever. Her comm kit doesn’t spring back to life but at least the wings haven’t completely given up on her yet. Turning back isn’t really an option. Gritting her teeth, Holly pushes on into the dark and imagines a scenario where everything from here on out goes perfectly smoothly. 

She never does get that promotion. 

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted as part of a multi chaptered 'whumptober' fic that I'm trying to split up. If you think you've read it before, you probably have


End file.
